River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-02-24

to fertiiize fFas one-fifth. if not, man.
IRE what you can, and summer-fallOw
the rest for year or two. and after
that one can count on an increase OF
crops sufficient TO insure enough ma.
nure. This one-fifth put to corn.
Corn is gross feeder and will utilize
"A good part of the ammonia and phos.
pilates. leaving a fair supply OF plant
food Cor crop of wheat; this may be
followed 10y crop of some small
grains not so exhaustive as wheat.
with this small grain SOW about peck
of clover seed per acre. On thispiece
soon after seeding, | would put from
one to two hundred pounds of land
plaster as before suggested, at a cost
of 30 to 40 cents per acre. Glover is
a biennial. though not a perfect one,
and ordinarily forms its seeds the
second year and dies the second crop
the second year bearing the seed in
this country, though in some other
places the first crop is saved for seed
Clover will usually be in blossom in
June, and should then be cut, and
when properly cured, makes the best
tetj Tor best or mutton of any of the
grasses we raise. TIE clover sod
should be plOwed the latter part Of
July or before the middle part of Au-
gust, and the land narrowed so no
weeds or grass can grow on 1T.
This land will be clean, fertile, and
every way adapted for crop of wheat
OF any grain one wishes to raise, and
this completes five years rotation. |
have purpoSely omitted roots from the
system, though IN many places, espe-
cially in the British Isles, they consti
tute much valued crop of the series,
because they consume more of the
alkaline elements of the soils than the
grain mentioned. With bran at less
than SsS per ton we cannot afford to
raise and feed roots. Any system of
rotation must be founded on the law
that different kinds of crops absorb
different elements from the soil and
in different proportions, and also, al
though in a less marked degree, from
the air. Glover extracts a large pro-
portion of carbon from the air to be
expended in heat-prOducing material.
as starch and sugar. These properties
being drawn from the air and we gain
rather than loose by their use. This
raising of clover with us is yet in its
infancy, but in the older States and
the British Isles after many crops
have been taken off, the land becomes
"clover.sick" as it is termed. The seed
fails to terminate and can be used less
often in the rotation; but in this part
of Wisconsin it can be used for many
years TO come. Crops differ largely in
the growth of their roots. The small
grains, with corn, spread their roots
on all sides, keeping near the surface.
Glover, on the other hand, is subsoil-
er. 1t draws nourishment from deep
in the soil or subsoil. and hourishes in
times of drought when other grasses
dry up.
The decomposition Of these long
roots tends to enrich as we'll as to
tighten the soil as deep as they pene-
trate. In these times of low prices
ana sharp competition, with soilsOme-
what exhausted by continuous crop
ings with wheat, it is not easy for the
farmer to decide what crops to plant.
Insect enemies in the wheat and corn,
cholera among the swine. and pleuTa-
pufuuloHtd duloHS luc CdCIie, anu Sloi-
ders among horses. To arrest these
scourges of our agricultural interest,
the man of science has combined
with the lawmaker; the first to
discover remedy, the last to enforce
it.
Let us as intelligent men and wo
men avail ourselves of these better
ways. Better breeds of stock, better
understanding of the laws of natura
increase. Better ways of curing and
saving feed; better ways of manu-
featuring dairy products. and become
a wiser, better and nobler race of men